Product Description

Make drinking easier for beginners or for children with oral motor difficulties|||ARK's Bear Bottle Kit is a fun and friendly way to make drinking easier for beginners and/or children with oral motor difficulties. It's also an excellent way to transition babies straight from bottles to straw drinking - skipping sippy cups altogether! Most sippy cups promote improper tongue and lip positioning that can cause speech problems later on. Straws are a better alternative, as they strengthen the mouth muscles and encourage tongue retraction, cheek tension, and lip closure.

The Bear Bottle features a unique valve that controls the direction of fluid - liquid flows up into the straw, but does not flow back down. Simply squeeze the bear's belly until fluid reaches the top of the straw and release. Fluid will stay at the top of the straw, thereby decreasing the effort required to drink. Highly recommended for individuals who tend to aspirate or have a weak suck with difficulties generating and maintaining suction.

The Ultra Kit (recommended) includes: 1 easy-to-squeeze Bear Bottle with a snap-close cap, 1 Select-Flow Valve, 8 inches of polytubing, 1 yellow Lip Blok® (3/4"), 12 straws, and instructions on how to teach straw drinking. Polytubing is a reusable, chewable, durable alternative to traditional straws, and the Lip Blok prevents kids from biting on the straw or putting it too far into their mouths.

Made in the USA

No BPA, PVC, lead, phthalates, or latex

Dishwasher-safe

Holds 8 ounces of fluid

Bottle measures approximately 2 x 2.5 x 6"

Straw colors will vary

Not recommended for carbonated beverages

Recommended for thin liquids (water, milk, juice without pulp, etc).

If you're using thickened liquids, in general for most thickener brands: "nectar" consistency works fine. If you trim the tapered end of the valve to open up the flow, "honey" will work but will be harder to suck through the straw. "Pudding" does not work, as it's too thick to drink through even a regular straw without a valve.

Compatible with most standard .25" diameter straws should you need more down the road. You can also get spares / replacements here.

valve is the key

Not sure why the honey bear bottle came to be a bear and not just a bottle, but I'm very excited to see how well this works (with the slow-flow valve and a lip block) to help a kiddo transitioning from nectar-thicks to thin liquids over the next two weeks.Sarah, OTR/L

Great Kit

This is a great kit with all the extra things you would need.Marla

A great kit to get your child on the right track

This bottle kit really is amazing. My son was able to drink out of a straw comfortable after using this kit very quickly. I thought we would have some time ahead before he could drink from a straw especially due to his special needs. His speech therapist felt this would be the best aid for him. It really was! Well worth the money.Beth

It did the job amazingly

To be honest I was very disappointed when I received this product, I had paid 12 dollars for a bear plastic container exactly as the honey container I had bought at the grocery store for just 3! But this just wasn't a matter of money, I was just beginning to wonder what was the amazing thing of this product. But the thing is than in less than a week she is drinking from it without aid. So... I am not sure what makes the trick but it works!mariap

GREAT PRODUCT

My son only drinks out of this cup. The materials are great and do not break easy. What i love the most is that any child can use it. It does not scream DISABLE to me and many people love it as well.vicky

Amazing cup

My 10 month son picked up the idea of sucking through a straw quickly with this cup. It was taking time with the traditional sippy cups. Now he is drinking more water throughout each day with ease.Ren

Fun and Useful

I use the Bear Bottle to teach straw drinking to patients with low oral tone and speech delays. What makes this bottle different from all the other bear / honey bears I've seen is the special valve that comes with it. When you squeeze the belly, water/juice/etc flows up into the straw but doesn't flow back down. The valve keeps it there so that the patient doesn't have to exert that effort again and again, which can make them tired and frustrated. I gave it 4 stars because the red and yellow straws are a bit hard to get through the cap. It does also come with a couple regular straws, though, and those fit just fine and I can easily find more of those when I need them.Morgan

Great product

Love using this for teaching kids to drink from a straw.Julianna

bear bottle

we were given this by a dietician bc my son has such severe food aversions, and he would refuse to drink out of anything other than his bottle. this was so easy for him to use and realize that he can use something else to drink out of that wont hurt him. this helped him in getting off of the bottle full time and onto sippy cups! great invention :)Tammy

Great product!

My baby learned how to drink from a straw using this bottle kit. He now is able to drink from a regular straw and we can bypass sippy cups altogether. Thank you for a great product!Nancy

Love Mr. Bear Cup

This cup is fantastic!! Its perfect to teach how to drink from a straw! When paired with a Blok & valve it helps to teach other skills as well ...Kelly